


All The Small Things

by nommonkeypie



Series: can't get you out of my head [11]
Category: Block B
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 09:28:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16616351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nommonkeypie/pseuds/nommonkeypie
Summary: “Do you hate Block B now or something?” Taeil asked, still watching him. “Because if so, I really want to know what happened to Ahn Jaehyo because you’re clearly not him.”The degree to which Taeil believed in him, in his love for Block B and Jiho, was admirable. Enough that it made some of the heaviness Jaehyo felt lift away. He smiled. “No, it’s still me,” Jaehyo answered. “Still the same old me.”





	All The Small Things

Jaehyo collapsed against him as soon as the door closed behind Kyung. “Your friend is nice but exhausting,” Jaehyo murmured, sounding exhausted.

Jiho laughed. “He’s definitely got his moments,” Jiho admitted. “You feeling okay?”

Jaehyo shook his head. “I feel like someone ran over me,” he groaned. “Remind me to not go out with them again.”

Shuffling over to the kitchen, Jiho bit back a laugh. “They’re your friends.”

Jaehyo just groaned even louder, laying on the couch instead of joining Jiho in the kitchen. “They want to meet up for Christmas,” he said. The way he said it made it sound like he’d rather be tortured to death.

“You don’t want to go?” Jiho knew that. It was clear from the way Jaehyo was speaking. All he wanted to do was laugh because the reluctance in Jaehyo’s voice was clear. There was something cute about it.

“You know I don’t!” Jaehyo shot back.

Jiho took pity on the guy and dimmed the lights. It wasn’t dark in the room but no doubt that helped with the headache Jaehyo clearly had. Sitting down on the floor in front of Jaehyo, he leaned back. Smiled at the older man. “Isn’t that around your birthday?”

Jaehyo nodded. “A couple of days after,” he answered, reaching out and running his hand through Jiho’s hair. “Why?”

“Maybe I’ll be able to get a couple of days and we can do something instead,” Jiho suggested. He didn’t know if it’d be possible though. “I don’t know if I can. We’re getting ready to start promotions in November and then we’ve been talking about doing something in January too.”

“Two comebacks in two months?” Jaehyo sounded pained by that. “You’re going to be so busy then.”

Jiho nodded. “Hanhae-hyung’s looking at military service in the next couple of years and we’ve got our contracts expiring in a year so we’re trying to fit in as much as we can right now.” He hated to talk about all this but it was the truth. “I’ll be busy soon. Even busier than I am now.”

Jaehyo’s hand stopped playing with Jiho’s hair. “There’s always messages and phone calls,” he said after a moment. They’d done that before. That’s how their whole relationship had started and how they often made things work between their busy, often conflicting schedules anyways.

“I know but…” Jiho hated this part of his life. How his dreams and ambitions conflicted with his heart’s desires. “And you’re going to stay here while I’m on tour next year too…”

“It’s confirmed then?”

Jiho nodded. “There’s a few places in the United States and Canada that we’re waiting to hear back about but I’ll be definitely be going to Europe and a few places in the United States.”

Jaehyo laughed. “No Korea or Japan?”

“Yeah, but those go without saying. We’re having some concerts here too in a few months.” Jiho knew he probably shouldn’t give away all this information but he trusted Jaehyo. “Want me to get you a ticket?”

A sort of quiet fell over the apartment at his question. Jiho wanted to turn and look, to read Jaehyo’s face but he was afraid at the same time. He’d always known Jaehyo was a fan. That much had been clear since the very start of their relationship. Even if they weren’t together, he felt like Jaehyo would probably get a ticket. But offering to just give Jaehyo one, it made this all feel different.

“Is that a safe idea?” Jaehyo finally asked. There was a clear confliction in his voice. Jiho smiled at that.

“Is your fan self fighting your overly cautious self?” Jiho teased, turning to face his boyfriend. It was so weird and strange and perfect to be able to call Jaehyo that. He loved it.

Jaehyo covered his face with his hand. “A little,” he admitted.

“It’ll be fine,” Jiho assured. “We get tickets for these kinds of things for friends and family. You’re my friend. My agency knows this. Kyung would back me up if anyone starting prying.” Because that’s what Kyung would do. He was a good friend even if he was kind of annoying at times.

Leaning over, he kissed the back of Jaehyo’s hand. “It’s not until the end of January anyway so you’ve got time to think about it.”

-

The world felt like it was spinning out of control. Jiho just kept offering so much information. Telling him all these things and it was definitely a sign of the trust he had in Jaehyo.

“Let’s just get through this promotion cycle first,” Jaehyo finally said, moving his hand away. He was afraid. They had gone through promotion cycles before but this felt different. For the first time, Jaehyo was actually scared at how busy Jiho was going to be. He’d already been incredibly busy as it was.

An idea popped into his head. It wasn’t an entirely new idea. “Want to model for me now?” He asked, trying not to show how excited the idea made him.

Jiho frowned. “Seriously?”

Jaehyo nodded. “Yeah, seriously. Nothing fancy, just you, right now, here.” He’d gotten lucky before, getting some great snapshots of Jiho when he wasn’t paying attention but this would be different.

“I look horrible,” Jiho shot back.

That was a lie. “You look like you,” Jaehyo answered. “This is the you that only I’m lucky enough to see.” He could see Jiho melt at those words. It was a powerful feeling. That look also meant that Jaehyo wasn’t surprised when Jiho agreed.

Twenty minutes later, he had his camera up, watching Jiho watch tv. At first, Jiho had seemed skeptical of the idea. But Jaehyo didn’t want anything staged. He wanted the real Jiho, the one who lived here and was just himself. Jiho was starting to relax now which was good.

More pictures were snapped when Jiho answered his phone. Whoever it was, the conversation was something serious if the look on Jiho’s face was to be trusted. He’d gotten up and gone to stand by the windows. Honestly, the setting couldn’t have been more perfect if Jaehyo had tried to set it up. The sun was starting to set already, washing the room (and Jiho) in a gorgeous purple-orange.

Normally Jaehyo was able to turn his feelings off when he took pictures of someone. He’d see them as a subject and that was it. Studying Jiho though...the more he watched Jiho through the camera lens, the more it made Jaehyo want to put the camera down. So that’s what he did. He’d already spent too many years of his life doing that.

-

“So, you see that Block B’s got a new album out?” Taeil asked as they headed towards Myeongdong. Apparently this amazing food cart was supposed to be set up over there and Taeil wanted to search for it.

Jaehyo nodded. “Yeah, I saw that,” he said. He could hear the sadness in his own voice. He was happy that Jiho was busy, that he was successful. They hadn’t been able to see each other in almost two weeks. It’d been almost as long since Jiho had been able to call him. Even texts were few and far between now.

He knew the reason why. Jiho was so crazy busy now. He’d promised this promotion cycle wouldn’t last long. But there was another cycle coming and soon. This was only a few more months. Jaehyo knew that. It was just hard to convince his heart that everything was okay.

Taeil stopped, staring at him. “Who are you and what did you do with Ahn Jaehyo?”

Jaehyo didn’t know how to respond to that. He still hadn’t told Taeil about Jiho. Well, nothing more than he already had. “I…”

The familiar sound of Block B’s new song, the horns loudly blaring from a nearby store followed by Jiho’s warm voice, made Jaehyo’s throat close. This wasn’t a sad song. No, just the opposite. It was supposed to be fun and happy but all it did was make Jaehyo’s heart hurt. He started walking faster, trying to get away from the song before it made him do something stupid like cry or something equally embarrassing.

Taeil hurried behind, yelling at him. Jaehyo ignored the guy, not stopping until he was far enough away that he felt like he could breathe.

A glare was on Taeil’s face when he caught up. “What the hell was that?”

Jaehyo didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t sure he trusted himself to speak. So he just shook his head, trying to figure out how to explain why it hurt to hear the song without getting into the whole Jiho situation. Honestly? It didn’t seem possible.

“Do you hate Block B now or something?” Taeil asked, still watching him. “Because if so, I really want to know what happened to Ahn Jaehyo because you’re clearly not him.”

The degree to which Taeil believed in him, in his love for Block B and Jiho, was admirable. Enough that it made some of the heaviness Jaehyo felt lift away. He smiled. “No, it’s still me,” Jaehyo answered. “Still the same old me.”

Taeil made a noise that sounded like he didn’t buy that. “So what is it then?” Taeil asked, arms crossed. He was digging his heels in which was a horrible sign. It meant that Jaehyo wasn’t going to get out of this. Not easily anyways.

Jaehyo glanced around. There were people everywhere here which sucked. This was something he could only say in private. He sighed. “Can I tell you later?” He finally asked. “I can’t talk here.”

That was either the best or worst thing to say because that only made Taeil look more interested. “I promise I’ll tell you everything,” Jaehyo added, hoping that would convince Taeil to let it be for the moment.

“Fine,” Taeil finally relented when he saw how serious Jaehyo was. “But I need to know everything about whatever the fuck this is.”

Jaehyo nodded. Fair enough. Besides, maybe it was time to expand the world of those who knew. Jiho had invited Kyung in. It only seemed fair that Jaehyo bring the next person in. And who better than Taeil?

“So, Block B album. You pick it up yet?” Taeil asked as they started walking again, back on the search for Taeil’s mysterious food cart.

“Not yet,” Jaehyo replied. He’d thought about getting it many, many times. In the past, he would have been one the first in line. But now, it was different. He wanted to hear the songs, go through the album but he was afraid. He’d gotten to the point where he’d been able to forget that Jiho was an idol. The album, _Montage_ , threw that out the window.

“There’s a music store up around the corner. Want to check it out?” Taeil was clearly trying to push him. He knew there was something and he wanted to get a reaction out of Jaehyo.

There was no reason to turn the offer down. “I guess,” Jaehyo agreed. He didn’t actually have a copy so he might as well get one. Maybe he’d even get Jiho to sign it sometime when he was over.

-

They ended up back at Jaehyo’s place. The search for the food cart had been a bust so they’d ended up back at Jaehyo’s since it was closer. They’d grabbed some takeout on the way back, settling in around the table that took up entirely too much room in Jaehyo’s small apartment. Maybe Jiho was right. Maybe he should look into somewhere bigger.

Taeil waited until they had all the food spread out on the table before he pounced. “What’s the deal with you?”

Jaehyo didn’t know where to start. This was harder than he thought it’d be. It’d seemed so easy with Kyung but then, he was Jiho’s friend, not Jaehyo’s.

“I don’t know where to start,” Jaehyo began. “It’s kind of a crazy situation.”

“Oh?” Taeil did not look impressed.

Jaehyo just nodded. “Yeah.” He took a deep breath. “You kind of know some of it already actually. It...it involves the guy I’m seeing.”

That got Taeil to sit up straighter.

“I met him at a wedding,” Jaehyo started. “We became friends pretty fast.” So fast. Looking back, that time of his life had been so sweet and innocent. “The next time we met, that was the night I called you and said I’d screwed up big time.”

“You ended up sleeping with him that night,” Taeil pointed out. “And by the way, you never paid me back for that.”

Of course that would be what Taeil remembered.

And then something dawned on Taeil. “He was in the apartment with you when I came by, wasn’t he?”

Jaehyo nodded. “Yeah.” No use denying that. “But then he got scared the next morning and dropped me.” He winced a little. That was still a painful memory even if things between them were way better now.

“I remember.” Taeil’s voice got hard “And you were foolish enough to let him back into your life.”

The only thing Jaehyo could do was shrug. “I felt like I had to,” he said. “It...the thing you don’t know is…” this was so impossible to say. “You don’t know who he is.”

Taeil nodded. He waited, clearly expecting Jaehyo to list a name. For some reason Jaehyo found it impossible to give Jiho’s name. He wanted to tell his friend. His mouth wasn’t cooperating though. With an annoyed growl, Jaehyo got up and grabbed his phone from where he’d plugged it in to charge. Scrolling through his pictures, he found a decent one and just showed it to his friend instead.

An unnatural quiet filled the apartment as Taeil looked at the picture. Finally, after what felt like forever, he looked up. “Seriously?” He asked, sounding the opposite of impressed. “You found someone who looks like Zico and started seeing him…” Taeil shook his head. “You’re obsessed in the wrong sort of way.”

“That’s not an imposter,” Jaehyo replied, voice quiet as he took his phone back. “It’s him.”

Somehow, the apartment grew even quieter.

The quiet hurt. It made Jaehyo regret telling Taeil this. He desperately wanted to call Jiho, to pull any sort of comfort he could from the guy. That was stupid and selfish of him though. Right now, Jiho was in the middle of promotions and needed all the strength he could muster for himself.

“You’re dating Zico,” Taeil said. His voice was dull as if he didn’t quite believe it.

Jaehyo nodded. “It feels weird to hear someone call him that,” he said, trying to lighten the mood. “He’s been Jiho to me for so long now…”

When Taeil didn’t say anything, Jaehyo felt like he needed to keep speaking. The longer things were quiet in here, the more awkward it all felt. “This promotion cycle has been hard. He’s been really busy and just...I feel like everyone else gets to see him except for me.”

“And that’s why you didn’t get the album until now?” Taeil asked, sounding more like himself.

“Yeah.” It wasn’t the whole truth but it was close enough.

They started eating. There wasn’t a whole lot of talking but at least now the quiet didn’t feel awkward. Maybe Taeil just needed a little time to absorb it all. If this had happened to anyone else, Jaehyo know he’d find the whole situation hard to believe himself. 

Taeil stared. “I’m having trouble believing you,” he admitted. “It’s too crazy, Jaehyo.”

This was what Jaehyo had been afraid of. “It’s the truth,” he said with a shrug, trying to play it off. He was afraid though. Taeil knew him well and would see how much this was bugging him. “I don’t know how else to prove it to you other than having you meet him sometime.”

He decided to tell Taeil something else. He’d gone this far, he might as well go a little further. “You’re the first person I’ve told about this. Only one other person knows about us now and it’s one of Jiho’s friends.”

Taeil shook his head. “You sound so insane right now. Please tell me you hear it.”

Jaehyo smiled but it hurt him to do so. “It sounds crazy, I know.” He went back to eating, regretting everything. Maybe after Taeil left, he’d head over to Jiho’s. He’d be alone there but at least he’d be surrounded by Jiho in every other sort of way. And maybe he’d get lucky and Jiho would come home tonight. He hadn’t really been coming home lately, instead crashing in his studio.

The awkwardness of it all faded some by the time they finished eating. Jaehyo cleared the containers away while Taeil sat on the bed. He was playing with the album he’d talked Jaehyo into getting earlier.

“Can I open this?” Taeil asked. Jaehyo shrugged, grabbing a clean rag to wipe off the table.

Taeil grinned as he took the plastic off and dumped the contents on the bed. “There’s a poster here,” he said, unfolding a paper. “It looks like shit.”

Jaehyo glanced over. He couldn’t exactly disagree. He could tell instantly that it was a stylistic choice but the gritty, graininess of it hurt his soul. He decided to try and block Taeil out, choosing to wipe the table off instead.

It was hard. Taeil was over there, making all sorts of noises and comments. Jaehyo was positive his friend was trying to get a reaction out of him. Which begged the question: why the fuck was he friends with Taeil again?

“Your boyfriend looks like he’s 12,” Taeil said, his voice breaking past the block Jaehyo had tried to set up. Looking over, he saw that Taeil was holding up the small photobook and had it open to a page featuring Jiho.

Whoever had styled Jiho had made him look young. “Make-up and photo-editing,” Jaehyo replied. He tossed the rag towards his kitchen and came over to look at the book. Jiho looked so weird in the picture. It was funny to Jaehyo how much he almost didn’t recognize the guy. This wasn’t his Jiho.

This was BBC’s Zico.

Jaehyo went over to the kitchen to pick up the rag. He snagged a can of beer from his fridge, grabbing one for Taeil too.

Taeil kept flipping through the book. He stopped at a picture, snickering. “You sure you got a boyfriend?” He asked, holding up the book again.

It featured Jiho and Kyung. They were sitting together, Jiho in a chair. Kyung was on the floor between Jiho’s legs. Jiho was bent over, his arms and legs draped around Kyung. A look of possessiveness on his face. _Mine_ was what that look read.

Fanservice. The two had always been comfortable with each other and had always given tons of fanservice. They’d even kissed each other on tv once. Having met Kyung, knowing Jiho, it was clear that they had no interest in each other. Not romantically anyways.

That didn’t change the fact that the picture made Jaehyo uncomfortable. The look in Jiho’s eyes...the was a look that Jaehyo didn’t like seeing directed at anyone other than himself. No one else was supposed to see Jiho like this.

“Shit.” Taeil put the book down. “You’re really not happy about this, are you?”

Jaehyo tried to smile but he couldn’t. He couldn’t muster up the strength for that. “It’s not the easiest thing to see,” he admitted. “I…” he sighed. “They’ve had promotions before. He’s had promotions before but this time is different. This has been a lot harder than I thought it’d be.”

Sitting in his desk chair, Jaehyo avoided looking at his friend. He didn’t like this. Didn’t like feeling this vulnerable. Jiho brought up all kinds of feelings in him that were great but also horrible. The guy had so much power over him. He didn’t even have to be around to affect Jaehyo’s mood.

“They’ve got some concerts in January,” Jaehyo finally said, trying to snap himself out of this funk he was falling into. “Jiho said he’d get me tickets. Want to come with so I’m not all alone?”

Taeil shook his head. “I cannot tell if you’re fucking with me or not. Normally you don’t do this kind of thing but this just sounds too unreal.” He shrugged and added, “I mean, yeah, if you can get the tickets, I guess I’ll go.”

And there was the Taeil he’d known for years. Jaehyo smiled. “Guess we’re going to their concert then.”

-

Jaehyo flipped the photobook back open to the page that had bugged him so much earlier. Taeil had just left. He still didn’t quite believe Jaehyo but he was at least humoring him now which wasn’t much better but it was a step in the right direction.

He wanted to yell at Jiho. Ask why he looked this way. Jaehyo knew it was just for show. He knew there was nothing between Jiho and Kyung. And honestly, it didn’t matter who was in the picture with Jiho. It was the way Jiho looked, the way he had himself draped over the other guy, that really bothered Jaehyo.

He wouldn’t yell at Jiho. He might want to but he wouldn’t. This promotional cycle was draining on Jaehyo. He couldn’t imagine what it was doing to Jiho. And they were supposed to have another right away with a concert at the end. And then Jiho was spending next year going on tours.

It was exhausting and lonely.

When they’d first started this whole thing, it’d been a lot of chatting and sporadic calls. Jaehyo had enjoyed them. They were a special treat. And then they’d started getting closer, had gotten involved in a more serious sort of way. Jiho became a regular fixture in his life. Someone that Jaehyo had come to rely on. They didn’t get to spend tons of time together but they’d still figured out a way to spend some time together, at least a little each week.

Now they were back to sporadic texts and even rarer calls. It made him feel so alone.

He threw the little photobook from the album onto the table with the rest of the stuff. Once upon a time, he would have treated the album like something holy. He would have carefully taken everything out himself instead of letting Taeil do it for him. He would have poured through the photobook, taking in every single little detail. Once he was done, he’d have carefully put it all back into the case and put it on his shelf with the rest of his Block B albums.

Laying on his bed, Jaehyo felt alone. He took a selca and sent it to Jiho. He knew he wouldn’t get a response anytime soon. But Jiho would see it eventually and maybe he’d even respond back.

It was too early to go to sleep but that’s all Jaehyo wanted to do. Anything else required too much effort for him to care about right now.

-

Jiho felt like dying right now. The day had been a long one. They’d had a fansign during the day, then there’d been that interview, and then they’d all been taken out to eat by the company. Normally he wouldn’t complain about that last one too much but it just sucked. He longed to go home. Or go to Jaehyo’s home. Really, he just wanted to be wherever Jaehyo was.

He’d never realized how lonely this life was when they had promotions. He leaned against Yukwon, who had taken the seat between Jiho and the end of their table. Jiho couldn’t help but have pure respect for the guy at the moment. Yukwon had been with his girlfriend since before they’d even debuted. Those two had gone through this so many times and were still strong. He didn’t know how they did it but it was admirable.

His phone buzzed, gaining Jiho’s attention. He pulled it out and saw that Jaehyo was sending him messages. A smile flitted across his face as he opened up their chat. A sad selca greeted Jiho.

It was a punch right in his heart, seeing that sad expression on Jaehyo’s face. The only reason he looked like that was because Jiho was here instead of with him. They hadn’t actually gotten to see each other in almost two weeks. He missed seeing Jaehyo. Missed getting to experience the happy peace the older man always brought him.

_This bed feels wrong. It’s too small and cold_

_I was out with a friend today and we heard your new song_

_I miss hearing your voice. Songs and interviews just aren’t the same_

Another picture. This time Jaehyo was holding their new album. Jiho felt a little stab of guilt. He’d wanted to personally give Jaehyo one. Somehow it hadn’t dawned upon him that Jaehyo would go out and get one himself.

_My friend knows. He doesn’t believe me though_

_It’s the friend who I served with, Taeil. When all of this is done, you two should meet_

_He’s the closest thing I’ve got to family here in Seoul so it’d be good for you two to meet_

He felt Yukwon shift next to him. Jiho shut the conversation, trying to hide it, but the look on Yukwon’s face said he had seen at least some of it. The guy raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Jiho knew what that look meant. They’d talk about this later. Jiho could live with that.

Actually, as he picked at his food, he was more than okay with talking to Yukwon about this. The guy might be his own age but Yukwon was far more experienced in dealing with this situation. Maybe he’d have some advice. At the very least, he’d be understanding.

It was about twenty minutes later before Jiho excused himself, claiming he needed a little fresh air. Yukwon followed him. The restaurant had a little balcony. It was small. The two of them fit comfortably but things would be tight if anyone else joined them. The ashtrays indicated that this area was meant for smokers but thanks to the late hour and cold air, they were the only ones out on it. Jiho was grateful for that.

He made sure the door was firmly shut behind them before he asked it. “So how much of that did you see?”

Yukwon chuckled. “Enough.”

If he was talking to anyone else, Jiho would be cursing. But this was Yukwon and he was a decent guy. He’d tease, Jiho knew he wouldn’t get out of that, but Yukwon would be careful when he did it.

“So how long has it been going on?” Yukwon asked, leaning against the railing.

Jiho almost replied immediately but then he remembered something that felt important. “Remember early last year? When I said I was going somewhere but didn’t tell anyone except you and had you check in with me?”

Yukwon nodded.

“That was the second time we met,” Jiho continued. He didn’t count the fansign meeting. He hadn’t even known Jaehyo’s name and honestly even now, Jiho couldn’t really remember the event.

“We met at Minseo-noona’s wedding and hit it off,” Jiho went on. “Got to be friends and then that night.”  
Yukwon stared. He was thinking, processing it all. “You slept together that night, didn’t you? That’s why you keep talking about it.”

Jiho nodded. There seemed no point in denying. “It’s been something serious for awhile now,” he added.

“Congratulations.” Yukwon was smiling that big, cherubic grin of his. “I thought something about you felt different this time around. In a good way though. It’s felt like you’ve grown up and gotten more mature somehow.”

See, Yukwon was a good friend. He didn’t laugh or judge or start questioning or doubting anything. He just offered happy support.

“This person must be pretty smart too. I haven’t heard anything about this until now,” Yukwon went on. “It seems like they understand what’s at stake here.”

The compliment made Jiho smile. “Yeah. I’m not the brains in this.”

That made Yukwon laugh. “How have you been handling this comeback?”

Jiho groaned. “I don’t know how you and Sunhye-noona do it,” he admitted. “It’s ridiculous how tough this is.”

Yukwon reached over, patting him on the shoulder. “It gets easier with time but it’s always hard,” he replied. “I also get to go home to her every night.”

Fair enough. Jiho wanted to say something but he didn’t know what. All of Yukwon’s words were true. And whatever he didn’t want to believe, well, it was hard to fight Yukwon on it. He was the more experienced one in this situation.

Yukwon grinned again. “Can I see your phone? I want to say hi.”

If this was anyone else, especially if this was Kyung, Jiho would have instantly turned the request down. But since this was Yukwon, Jiho decided he’d trust his friend. He unlocked his phone and handed it over. “I wouldn’t suggest scrolling up,” he decided to add. There were some more explicit messages and pictures further up in the chat. He wasn’t sure how fond Yukwon would be of dick pics.

That got a raised eyebrow followed by a quick head nod. Yukwon threw an arm around Jiho’s shoulders, pulling him into a little almost hug. “Smile,” he ordered, taking a picture of them. After several long moments in which Yukwon apparently decided he’d start drafting a novel, the guy handed the phone back to Jiho.

“I promised him I’d make sure you went home tonight,” Yukwon whispered as they walked back into the restaurant. “Don’t make me a liar.”

It took all of Jiho’s willpower not to just run home that instant. But he couldn’t do that. Not when they were out on company time, even if it was just a meal. They weren’t barred from leaving early but unless there was a good reason, it was just the most impolite thing. Stupid social customs, making him be polite and whatnot.

Another hour ticked by, each moment crawling past, torturing him. Finally their group was ready to go. Jiho had never been more relieved in his life. But then they had to drop everyone else off. The group didn’t have a dorm anymore, everyone choosing to move out. They all lived in the same general area so the driver dropped each of them off at their homes but it took far longer than the days when they’d had a dorm and more than half the group got out.

Jiho was the last one. That did not help. He’d wanted to be first because he knew he’d be the first one picked up in the morning. It was the route their driver always took. Usually, the leader didn’t care. But then, before this, he’d never had someone at home waiting for him.

He almost sprinted into the building. That would have looked ridiculous though so he walked, briskly, into his building. The elevator crawled down towards him, taking its time. He started debating the stairs. They might be quicker since at least then he’d actually be traveling between floors.

His feet ached though, reminding him how it’d been a long day. Reminding him that tomorrow would be even longer since they’d been booked for time in the dance studio all day. There was a concert coming up in a couple of months and they needed to work on...well, every dance routine they had.

At least this little promotional cycle was nearly over. That was the one good thing. He knew they had another song that they were putting out after this, that they’d release just before the concert, but Kyung had requested to take charge of that one. Jiho had helped with lyrics but the rest of it was on Kyung.

Jaehyo’s shoes were just inside the door when Jiho finally reached his apartment. No Jaehyo in sight though. Given the time, nearly 2 a.m., he guessed that the older man was probably curled up in bed. All Jiho wanted to do was lay down, pass out, and try not to think about tomorrow. They had to be at the dance studio by 10 a.m. which didn’t give him a whole lot of time to sleep but he could get a few hours at least.

It was closer to three by the time he was actually able to lay down. The make-up that he’d been forced to wear for the interview earlier had been stubborn, not wanting to come off. He was pretty sure some of it had sunk into his skin and was just part of him now. At least, that’s what it’d seemed like. A curse of the idol life but this was something that Jiho had chosen for himself years and years ago when he’d been a kid. It’d seemed like a great thing back then. Now, a decade or so later, he wasn’t as sure.

-

“Turn off the blasted alarm,” Jaehyo growled, his voice deliciously deep with sleep.

Jiho groaned, not wanting to get up. He felt like he’d just laid down. Why did he have to get up so soon? It wasn’t fair. He shifted closer to Jaehyo, trying to ignore the alarm.

“Alarm,” Jaehyo repeated.

Jiho groaned again, stretching his arm out and snagging his phone. He couldn’t even see the display other than the ‘snooze’ and ‘dismiss’ buttons. He hit the snooze and closed his eyes again. A few more minutes wouldn’t hurt. He heard Jaehyo sigh, content and at peace next to him.

The next time Jiho woke, he had three missed calls, half a dozen missed texts, and their manager was calling him again.

“Where are you?” The man asked when Jiho answered. “You’re late.”

Cold dread filled Jiho at those words. He glanced at the time and realized it was 11. He was supposed to have been at the dance studio an hour ago.

“Shit, sorry Hyung,” he apologized. “I don’t think my alarm went off.” It was a lie but Jiho didn’t want to admit that he’d accidentally turned his alarm off a few hours ago.

“Get over here now,” the guy replied, sounding unhappy. It was rare for their manager to get this way but then again, Jiho had to admit this was a rare thing for him to have accidentally done.

Jaehyo was still asleep in the bed. Jiho was full of regret as he got up and dressed, leaving without even getting a chance to say goodbye. He’d have to make it up to Jaehyo at some point.


End file.
